


Chrysler Crisis

by ChokolatteJedi



Series: x6325 [7]
Category: Chuck (TV), White Collar (TV 2009)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Art, Background Relationships, Episode Tag, Episode: s03e01 On Guard, Gen, Heist, Neal Caffrey & Bryce Larkin Are Twins, Phone Calls & Telephones, Pining, Protective Bryce, Twins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-02
Updated: 2011-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:35:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28943796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChokolatteJedi/pseuds/ChokolatteJedi
Summary: In a world where Bryce is in Neal's life, Mozzie makes different choices regarding the treasure.
Relationships: Chuck Bartowski/Bryce Larkin, Neal Caffrey/Sara Ellis
Series: x6325 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2119584
Comments: 1
Kudos: 18





	Chrysler Crisis

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first story in the x6325-verse that can't be read as just a missing scene, but as entirely canon-divergent. From here on out, the presence of Bryce will make waves

Mozzie had a hard decision to make. On the one hand, here was Adler — his white whale. Mozzie had literally been chasing this score for a decade: this was his dream. But, for years, that dream had been shared with Neal.

Neal would never go with him now, Mozzie knew. Not when his brother was here, trying to keep him out of the life. If Bryce had actually died, or wasn't based in New York, or a dozen ors, and Neal might have been willing to take the treasure and run. But not now.

Hence, Mozzie's dilemma: to tell Neal, or not to tell Neal. He wasn't afraid Neal would sell him out, of course. He didn't even think Bryce would do it. Bryce may be a spook — and the source of at least half of Mozzie's conspiracy theories — but he didn't care if they did illegal things, provided that no one innocent got hurt. In the past he had even happily pointed them in the direction of bad guys who deserved to lose a priceless relic or two.

But it was the principle of the thing.

Initially, Mozzie had planned to empty Neal's storage unit and swap his paintings for those on the sub. Forensics would need to indicate the presence of paint and canvas. He was also planning to grab some cheap costume jewelry for the stone and precious metal.

If — on the off chance anything did survive the inferno — Mozzie wouldn't want to point any fingers at Neal. Especially if Mozzie decided not to tell him about the treasure surviving. Maybe he could pick up some art at the pawn shop too. Or one of those little cafes that displayed it on the walls. He could also just buy some tubes of pain and squirt them onto a few cheap canvases, come to think of it.

Yes, there were several better ways to go about this than to pilfer Neal's storage unit. Thus decided, Mozzie headed for an art supply store conveniently located just down the block from a low end pawn shop. He had a heist to plan.

oOo

Mozzie entered the apartment at June's and discovered both twins present. Neal was standing at his easel, working on a painting, while Bryce laid out on the couch with his laptop. "You're adorably domestic," he announced.

His response was simultaneous "gee, thanks," Looks.

"That's uncanny."

"The Malbec's already open," Neal said, nodding at the table.

"Excellent!" Mozzie strode towards the table. "I am in need of something bracing for the conversation to come."

"Oh?" Neal asked, curious.

"I… have a confession to make," Mozzie admitted as he poured.

"Oh, you're finally going to tell us about the U-Boat treasure?" Bryce asked calmly.

Mozzie was so shocked he almost spilled the Malbec. "What?"

"Come on, Mozzie, you've had a giant smirk on your face for days," Bryce pointed out.

Neal put down his pallet and looked at Mozzie seriously. "Moz, you know I'm not coming with you, right? I can't."

"I know. I wasn't going to ask you to," Mozzie admitted sadly.

"Good. Now that we've got that out of the way, I should tell you I just finished encrypting your surveillance video feed," Bryce added cheerfully as Neal went back to his painting

"What?" Mozzie repeated. Then he took a large gulp of his wine to fortify himself.

"Bryce figured it out a few hours after the heist, while Peter was interrogating me," Neal explained.

Bryce jumped in. "You know the first thing Peter did was blame Neal, right?"

"He shouldn't have," Mozzie protested. "I left no traces, and you were with him when it happened!"

"Yeah, between him and Sara I've actually got an alibi for the entire time frame," Neal frowned. "And yet, there I was taking a polygraph at 2 AM with a mild concussion."

"I did ream him out for that part," Bryce pointed out mildly. He affected a deeper accent that made him sound older, with a bit of a Texas twang. "It doesn't matter if you think he did something illegal, Burke. Anything you got while he was concussed would be inadmissible; he wasn't in his right mind. Not to mention that a polygraph relies on involuntary body responses, which are also affected by a concussion. And I haven't even gotten to the part where, if he is innocent, you've broken his trust and possibly opened yourself to a color of law investigation."

"Nice," Mozzie raised his glass slightly in a toast.

"He refuses to tell you anything that Peter puts in his sealed files, though," Neal warned Mozzie. "If you do any sleuthing, or I overhear something, I'll tell you, but he's not going to help, got it?"

"I wouldn't have asked that either," Mozzie said mildly.

To his relief, Neal grinned widely. "I know, but just thought I'd make sure."

"So, now that the boring part's out of the way…" Bryce began, setting his laptop aside.

"... What all did you rescue?" Neal asked, as they gave him matching cheshire grins.

oOo

"The Chrysler Building?"

Neal was certain. "Yeah, Peter was here the night before the fire. This painting was on that easel. He commented on it. You remember?"

Mozzie groaned.

"Did you put it on the sub?" Neal asked.

"No! I told you; I left your art alone. But the cafe where I bought the art — there was a Chrysler Building in that group."

"So Peter found _a_ Chrysler Building painting, and assumed it was mine," Neal filled in the blanks.

"If he has a recognizable piece, testing would confirm that it wasn't from the 1930's." Mozzie realized.

They quickly worked out a plan, with Mozzie planning to tail El while Peter and Neal were at work. "What about _your_ paintings?" Mozzie finally asked.

"Well, El's birthday is coming up," Neal said with a shrug. "I'll ask Peter if we can swing by the storage unit after work so he can help me pick one she would like. I'll make sure he sees the Chrysler."

"That's almost ingenious," Mozzie decided.

Neal smirked. "I have my moments."

oOo

"How do you plan on losing your tail, outside evolution?" Mozzie asked curiously.

"Oh, I think Bryce can be persuaded to assist," Neal said loftily.

"How's that?" Bryce asked, looking up from his computer. He was pining for Chuck, again, which for a spy apparently meant stalking via surveillance cameras. And he had the nerve to disparage Neal's start with Sara!

"Well, I thought you might pull a Caffrey classic," Neal suggested. "While I'm sneaking out through the speakeasy basement route, you pop out onto the front porch with Juliana, point her towards Jones, and have her bring him a cup of coffee. He'll be across the street at the nearest, and you can fake my mannerisms well enough at that distance." Bryce had never quite managed the full-width conman smile, but for this play a simple smile or smirk would do.

"The old 'champagne to the surveillance van' trick," Mozzie said approvingly.

"I suppose I could do that much," Bryce agreed with a smirk.

oOo

"Nice trick with Jones this morning," Peter said as soon as Neal picked up.

"Well you can't be the only one who gets to enjoy June's Italian roast," Neal said cheerfully, carefully filling in the forged Chrysler. "Why did you have Jones on me anyway? I almost gave him the slip yesterday before I realized it was him, and not Lawrence."

"You know why," Peter said ominously before hanging up.

oOo

"Neal? I thought you had the meeting with Lawrence." Mozzie quickly put down the Russian surplus grapefruit/night-vision scope he had been cleaning.

"I am here with the client," Neal said. "Get the pilot _suited up_ and tell him that we're putting step three into effect."

"And by Suit you mean Peter, I assume? Wait, or Bryce. Say 'No' for Peter, or 'Yes' for Bryce," Mozzie said quickly, trying to get as accurate a read as he could.

Neal came through. "No, the boat might have been compromised. The client and I are moving the cargo to the airstrip."

"Make it Van Buren airstrip. I know a guy who knows a guy there," Mozzie decided.

"That's right," Neal agreed.

"Anything else?"

"Make sure it's gassed up and good to go. All right? Once the client is airborne I'll need you to do a little pest control for me. I'll owe you another Italian Roast."

As soon as Neal hung up, Mozzie frantically dialed Peter, even as he ran down the fire escape to catch a cab to Van Buren airstrip.

"You better have a good reason for calling," Peter snapped. "I'm in the middle of something very important, Mozzie."

"Suit, Neal just sent me a distress call, and if I read him right, your demi-Suit is in trouble. Get yourself to Van Buren airstrip as soon as possible."

oOo

"Well, there's no way I'm flying the treasure out now," Mozzie declared, staring morosely into a glass of shiraz. "The Suit knows I have friends at the airstrip; he's probably already setting up surveillance on the place."

"Peter doesn't suspect you; he suspects me," Neal pointed out. "And you saved Jones's life, so I'd call today a win."

"There's nothing saying you have to flee right away, you know," Bryce pointed out. "It isn't like you're on a clock. Just take a vacation for a month or so and come back. Or stay here like normal and lay low until the heat is off. You're not on an anklet; you can do whatever you want."

"That's not bad advice, actually," Mozzie said, brightening considerably.

Bryce shrugged. "Of course, I still think that you should do your best to send the identifiable pieces to the Claims Conference, so that they can be returned to their original owners, but that's up to you."

"As I said before, I shall keep that under advisement," Mozzie said, deflating again.

Neal hated to see him so down. "Okay, but can we please talk about the real travesty of this case, where Peter actually fished my severed tie out of the trash and mounted it on his wall with a thumbtack?"

As planned, both Bryce and Mozzie took the opportunity to harass him, instead of continuing their disagreement. The things Neal sacrificed for his loved ones!


End file.
